It's driving me nuts that there is a new yelp of corti that gave three out of five stars and all the chick talks about it crawfish and doesn't say why she's only giving it three stars.
Someone wrote a positive review of David Berkeley and I was thinking how rarely I hear anyone mention that place. I know it's not downtown, but it's barely farther off the grid than Corti's yet no know seems to go. What do you guys think? I've had one bad experience and one eh experience there, but I haven't even really checked out the wine.
Love it simply because he's been in there for so long and when I was a kid, that was the only other place besides Cortis where you could get those awesome Droste chocolate drop tubes.
ReplyDeleteI love it because it's a small store, but everything there is pretty amazing. Corti's is still tops in my book, but I remember feeling a little overwhelmed the first time I went in there. The folks at DB can be snooty, but they are all very helpful and knowledgeable. My parents belong to a dinner group and they've been going to DB for wine for nearly 20 years. I remember going with my mom and having Berkeley help her to pick out wines for her meals and he was super nice - let me try the wines when I was still a teenager.
ReplyDeleteDB's, like Sellands, is considered "high-end", so that lends itself to more "well to do" or "upper crust" clientelle. If you aren't bothered by that, you'll love it.
ReplyDeleteTheir sando's are top notch. Different than Corti's.
Wine selection is mostly Californian. A bit pricey, but they have a bargain bin which I highly advise.
Bakery is fucking nuts. Everything I've had there is great. They even serve Illy espresso and if you get someone that gives a shit, it's 2nd only to Temple's.
The rest is made up of specialty foods and a pretty intense meat section. If you like Whole Foods for meat, you'll probably like DB's...and it's closer.
You should check it out.
Mario
my mom has been shopping at db's for probably over 10 years (moved on from Corti's, where she had shopped from at least the early 80s). She's shifted *somewhat* to Whole Foods now (it's mostly a proximity thing).
ReplyDeleteCorti's strikes me as a really good grocer -- basically on par with Andronico's (ie, a step above most supermarkets). DB's seems to have a more "boutique" selection. Like, you'll go there and there'll be like, six tomatoes, but each one is basically approaching perfect. It's incredibly small, and it seems like their business is largely serving up prepared lunches for the wealthy folks buying old people's clothes at Pavilions.
I'm not particularly big on gourmet grocers, but I'll say this: they stock a damned good sourdough roll (special order only).
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ReplyDeleteI wrote something rude because someone is pissing me off, but I'll be nicer now. You know who you are, stop commenting. You're embarrassing yourself. You're not welcome here.
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